I was reborn into a romhack!
by NewtypeS3
Summary: An Isekai ("reborn in another world") story, one based on my playthrough of a completely bonkers romhack: Pokemon Roaming Red. A set of small stories for the moment, feedback will help this grow into a complete story.
1. I: A New World

I don't remember my old name, but you can call me Red. Everyone else does. I don't remember how old I am, nor do I remember where I was born. Everything before the day I woke up in Kanto is a hazy fog, but I do remember a few details. My mom, my dad, and Pokemon.

The last thing I think I remember of my old life was finding a new romhack, a new way of playing an old game. It was "Pokemon: Roaming Red." I booted up the game, and was given my new name, and a rival: Blue. I chose Celadon City to start in, as the game let me choose where ever in Kanto I wanted as a metagame attempt to get more Pokemon early. I'm still not clear on it all, but I remember that the game then asked me to choose a Pokemon to spawn with.

I blacked out.

* * *

When I woke up, it was daytime, the sun shining down bright from somewhere in the afternoon. The breeze drifted across the landscape, smells teasing at a nearby restaurant, but I couldn't place the food. Opening my eyes, I noticed that I instantly knew my… inventory? Huh.

While I honestly can't remember the world I came from much, I figured this: I was now stuck inside the game. At least I wasn't alone. On my belt, a single Pokeball. Looking around, I somehow knew I was in Celadon City, probably due to the five story building a few miles off that was labeled "Celadon Department Store." Kind of a giveaway. People went about their daily business around me, and it seemed like no one really cared that someone may have just appeared in the middle of the road. Getting off the ground, I found that I had appeared in front of the city's Pokemon center. Palming the Pokeball on my belt, I dropped it to the ground to summon up the power inside.

A small Sandshrew appeared out of the light vomited from the Pokeball. It spoke fragments of its species name as it stretched and seemed to yawn. Again, something inside me told me that he was level 10, and that he knew…

That's not right.

It had been years since I had played Pokemon, and Roaming Red would have just been for the hell of it. Apparently, the hack messed with the game code something fierce. That was probably the reason why I saw the following information hovering above the Sandshrew.

 **Name: Hobbes  
Attack: 22  
Defense: 22  
Speed: 13  
Special: 13**

 **Attacks:  
Guillotine PP 5/5  
Mega Punch PP 20/20  
Tackle PP 35/35  
Razor Wind PP 10/10**

...how the hell did he learn all of these? Or did the game completely change up their pre-set moves and levelups? Oh, man. Any confidence about knowing the world in front of me vanished as I grappled with the fact that the Sand- Hobbes would be able to summon up whirling winds to punish those before me.

Picking up Hobbes and putting him on my shoulder, belting the Pokeball, I realized I'd need help if I was going to survive this world. An urge told me that there was someone at the top of an apartment building a block away who could join me on my quest, and that I could use the 9,000 Pokedollars in my wallet to buy some other Pokeballs at the department store. For some reason, I had a strong urge to visit the apartment before anything else.

"First thing's first, Hobbes," I said to the little dirt shrew taking up residence on my baseball cap as I began walking over to the apartment building, "There's something called an Eevee waiting for us on that roof."

Hobbes let out a little 'shrew' at that, wondering how I knew.

I shrugged, but wasn't about to question whatever had appeared in my swiss-cheese brain.

* * *

This… this wasn't right either.

After scaling a few flights of stairs at the back end of the tallest apartment building in Celadon, Hobbes and I had found a small shack. The front of the shack had the words I KNOW EVERYTHING emblazoned across it in big red font, which was either a great sign of getting some kind of explanation… or I had just found a conspiracy theorist.

In for a penny, in for a pound, I figured, and threw open the door. Meeting my gaze was a steely-eyed muscle-bound man, arms akimbo standing next to a desk. On the desk, a Pokeball and a small journal of sorts. The man didn't move, but met my gaze knowingly.

"I know everything about the world of **POKEMON** in your **GAME BOY!** " he spoke, his voice going oddly flat whenever he hit what sounded like key words. Hobbes didn't seem to notice, really. Continuing, Mr. Know it All said, "You have come here from **ANOTHER EARTH.** To leave for home, you must beat **THE ELITE FOUR** …" Stepping aside, he gestured to the Pokeball to his side, "This is for you, **RED.** Take this **POKEMON** and survive."

The lights blacked out. When they flickered back on seconds later, the character had vanished. I didn't wait long to leave, but took the Pokeball with me.

Back outside on the roof, I summoned up the Eev-

Charizard. A massive winged fire-breathing lizard with a blazing inferno erupting from the tip of its tail, intended for later-game evolutions and an ever-popular transformation.

I had found a Charizard, level 10. And it knew Mega Punch, Drill Peck, Recover, and Sonic Boom.

Shaking my head in bewilderment, I greeted Burnie the Charizard for the first time. Luckily, he didn't ignore me outright and welcomed me as his trainer with a simple utterance of "Char." He even went back inside his Pokeball, though I wasn't sure how that was impressive. Must have been the remnants of memory I've forgotten.

That instinct inside me that had driven me to the roof of this apartment building urged me to go to the Celadon Department Store to pick up a few Pokeballs and go catch Pokemon in a field just east of the city.

* * *

This world makes no damned sense. The field had Sandshrews, the evolved Sandslash, tiny snakelike Dratini, Hitmonlee, Mangamites… all completely with no rhyme or reason. It blew my mind to have Dratini slither out of the long grass and sing Hobbes to sleep, following it up with a cut attack. Or for a Geodude to roll into battle… only for him to splash in some puddles rather than attack.

Still, a few hours of hunting, and I had something close to a full team. Something told me that six was my limit, and that I should go elsewhere for a sixth. But joining Hobbes the Sandshrew and Burnie the Charizard were Gary the splashing Geodude, Benny the happy Dratini, and Android the blastin' Magnemite.

Why that nickname for Android? It's not often you see a teeny Magnemite erupt from the grass shooting off Ice Beams and _two_ Hyper Beams at once. I barely survived that, and I'm hoping he was worth the struggle.

* * *

The Celadon Game Store. A den of scum and villainy, so or I'd heard from the old man weeping in the restaurant. While the costumed thug guarding a simple poster hanging up on the wall was utterly bizarre, he wasn't my focus. The slot machines rang in my ears as I looked acorss the dimly carpeted floor. Every once in a while, someone would drop their game coins, and I'd scoop them up quick.

200 coins, that should be enough.

Heading out of the smoke-filled casino, I entered the Prize Exchange store in the same building. Walking up to the counter, I held up the change and asked what I could get.

An old cigar-chomping man in a similar costume to poster-guy earlier looked down at me and my 200 coins. The cigar moved about his mouth as he looked over the coins, as if making sure the rocket-emblazoned tokens were legit. He jerked his thumb over to the exchange chart to the left of the window.

Abra - 200 Coins

Perfect!

I left the coin exchange with 20 coins left in the Coin Case, and my sixth party member. Checking him in my inventory, I let out a small laugh. From what my crappy memories told me, Abra was a powerful psychic Pokemon. If that was the case, why did this Abra (named Shazam) come with Headbutt, Mega Kick, Bite, and Strength?

Well. At least I knew where TM-29 was.

* * *

The sun still hadn't set, even though it had been several hours. Since it was a video game I'd been stranded inside, it wasn't likely to set anytime soon either. Still, with six Pokemon at my side and no badges, I had my work cut out for me. I adjusted my backpack behind me as my hands brushed across five Pokeballs. Hobbes hadn't refused to go back into his Pokeball, but I just couldn't bear to make him leave my shoulders either. Besides, having a Pokemon at the ready really couldn't hurt, right?

This was going to be one hell of a weird quest, I thought to myself as I headed east towards Saffron City.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **This is actually based on a romhack I discovered about a week ago. It is totally called "Pokemon: Roaming Red," and has a nice feature of shuffling up a ton of things, including Pokemon spawns, item randomization, and even Pokemon moves. I gave it a few test runs before this current play, and it truly is an open world Pokemon hack.**

 **And completely bonkers.**

 **I'm thinking of writing in a few NPCs as companions to open this up more as a story and less as a collection of scenes. Let me know what you guys think.**


	2. II: Exploring my Limitations

Saffron City seemed to be built all around one giant skyscraper. The lettering on the side of the building established it as Silph Company, their logo looking like a split Pokeball making an S-shape. It looked to be one of those situations where a company made their headquarters and just built a small town around them for their employees to live.

However, there was a lot of security around for some reason.

Guys in outfits like the guys from Celadon with big "R"s on the jackets of their black uniforms guarded almost every entrance. They didn't really seem to notice me, until I tried entering some of the buildings. I'm not sure if they were trying to keep people out, or keep people in. There was even a guard in front of Silph Co, chatting with some of his friends.

"With Silph Co. under our control, we can exploit Pokemon worldwide!" the taller of the guards shouted at the top of his lungs, looking excited and dancing about in front of the skyscraper's entrance.

"Marv, I know that." the shorter one sighed heavily, making it obvious this was the ten thousandth time Marv had said that phrase, "Boss Giovanni made it clear that Silph Co is responsible for the best Poketech on the planet, and by taking over the company… forcefully… we can also take over the world."

Well, crap.

Hobbes the Sandshrew jumped up and down on my hat, pointing at Marv and his shorter accomplice, as if demanding we fight them. Thing is, I also remember this plot point from the Pokemon games. Silph Co is about the midpoint of the game, and there was no way in hell we were ready at level 12 to take down all of Team Rocket.

Luckily, there was one thing that Team Rocket had missed, one house none had gone near a few blocks away. There was an eerie pressure coming from the house, and I found it hard to even approach the door. Something beyond my scattershot memories were screaming at me to leave the house alone. Steeling myself, I turned the knob and threw the door open as hard as I could. It slammed open, shaking a picture frame off the inside wall and bounced back in my face.

Catching the door sheepishly, Hobbes and I peeked inside the home. It was another one of those bizarre two-story, one room affairs that seemed to populate the Kanto region. Kitchen, bedroom, living room, and any other thing a person needed to live all crammed into one high-ceiling'd home. At the very least, it looked cosy. At the center of the room, sitting at a short table, was a frail elderly man, balding and wearing a pair of sunglasses. Without me even saying a word, he turned to me. His eyes seemed to penetrate me despite the tinted glass between us.

"Don't say a word!" he boomed, suddenly before me as I blinked. His hand thrust out at me, holding the jewel case for a compact disc, "Take this!"

 **Red got TM-29!**

 **Red put TM-29 in ITEMS.**

Without warning, we were shoved out of the house by an unseen force, and the door slammed in our faces. I looked down at the CD in my inventory. It was labeled "Psychic," and the surface shone purple with unspeakable power. Hobbes crawled off my head to my shoulder and poked at the case, shrinking back when the case rattled in my hands. Carefully, I placed the Technical Machine on the ground and pulled Shazam the Abra out of his Pokeball.

Shazam shadow boxed the air a few times as he spawned, as befitting a Psychic Pokemon who somehow relied on his fists more than on his mind. Shazam watched me as I picked up the jewel case once more, popping it open. I applied the CD to his forehead and it let out a high-pitched whine as the purple disc glowed brightly and began to spin faster and faster until it shattered into fading shards of energy.

 **Shazam learned PSYCHIC!**

Ok, so he'd forgotten Headbutt, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to have his head hurt the enemy in ways that would actually work with his type.

* * *

Team Rocket was beginning to take notice of the single, lone Pokemon trainer wandering around Saffron City, so I chose to head north. After several minutes of walking up Route 5, I entered Cerulean City. It seemed pretty peaceful, to be honest, and the sound of running water pervaded the entire town.

Of course, it wasn't perfectly peaceful. I noticed an Officer Jenny taking a report from a pair of civilians. Their front door had been ripped off its hinges and thrown to one side, and I could see that the house inside had been ransacked with the intent of finding something.

"That's right, Officer," a large man spoke up loudly. He was the owner of the house, apparently, and looked incensed and frustrated at the whole thing, "So far as I can tell, they only took the Technical Machine I'd just bought. TM-28 for Dig." he paused, patting the Pokeball on his belt, "I meant to teach my little Diglett how to dig so I could work on my garden."

Officer Jenny nodded, sketching down notes in her notepad as she "mm-hmm"ed an answer.

"If I find the jackass who did this," he continued, getting even more worked up and grabbing the shovel "I won't even engage them in a Pokemon battle! I'll just keep hitting them with this shovel until they don't move anymore."

I heard a soft 'eep' coming from behind the house.

I let out a low sigh and walked around the house, climbing easily over the three foot wooden fence. Hobbes let out a squeal of "shrew!" as he spotted what I had heard: a man in dark clothes with that same white "R" across the chest, trying desperately to sneak away. Why the hell didn't he even try to run away? What did he hope to-

You know what? Forget thinking about it.

"Android!" I cried out, throwing my pokeball at the thief, "Ice Beam!"

Before the already slow-thinking thief could react, he was encased in ice up to his neck. I walked around to the front of the thief, calling Android back into his Pokeball. I looked the idiot up and down, and couldn't help but notice he was part of the same group of people from the Rocket Game Corner and Saffron City. Laying on the ground in front of him was the TM-28 that had been stolen. Unlike the unnerving TM-29 from earlier, this one was a dirt brown in color. And, of course, was labeled "Dig."

"This won't stop us…" the frozen thief shivered, "Team Rocket will go on without me…"

I ignored the thief and jumped the fence back to the front of the house. Within seconds, I was holding out the stolen item to the owner of the home.

"Oh," the man blinked in surprise, seeming awkward about the offer, "...thank you for the offer, but I'm going to teach Diglett how to dig without one."

"...but this is the exact one that was stolen."

"No-no," the burly man laughed, "You obviously worked hard to find one as well, so I must refuse. My shovel and I will do this the hard way. But thank you, young man."

I nodded reluctantly and pu-

 **Red got TM-28!**

 **Red put TM-28 in ITEMS.**

-yeah. That.

Well, might as well make use of this one. Hobbes had been pawing at TM-28 when it was in my hands, and let out a little squeal of delight when I slipped it back out of the ITEMS bag. Popping the disc out of its case, I placed the Technical Machine on the Sandshrew's head. It whirled and exploded like the previous one, albeit much less creepily. Hobbes flexed his little arms, pleased with itself. He had forgotten Razor Wind, but we'd never used it before, so there wasn't any loss there either.

Hobbes and I wandered around the city a little longer, taking in the few sights like the Bike Shop and the Cerulean Gym. I didn't feel confident enough to take on a gym yet, especially with a Geodude who wanted only to splash around in water rather than fight. There was a very ornate wooden bridge stretching over the nearby river, and it looked pretty cool. We walked close by an-

...why did the music change?

Without warning, a new person seemed to jump out of nowhere, marching towards me with intent. Without warning, the young boy pointed to me and shouted, "Yo! **RED**! You're still struggling along here?"

"...who are you?" I asked, scratching at the back of my head. I looked to Hobbes, who only shrugged.

"I'm doing great!" the apparent Rival continued, ignoring my question, "I caught a bunch of strong and smart **POKEMON**! Here, let me see what you caught, **RED**!"

With that, Rival threw out a Pokeball. From the fading glowing light, a little Growlithe formed. Hobbes leapt off my shoulder and instantly used Dig without my asking. Blue, as I now somehow knew him as, told his Growlithe to try and scratch… only he couldn't, as Hobbes was underground. Hobbes shot up with an uppercut from the dirt, knocking the Growlithe out in one shot.

"Pretty snazzy, **RED** ," Blue admitted, recalling Growlithe and throwing out another Pokeball.

This time, it was a Pidgey. I decided to let Hobbes keep fighting, but then stood there in shock as the Pidgey jumped into the air and flew at Hobbes with a Hi-Jump Kick. This also seemed to catch Hobbes by surprise, as he reeled back and blinked a few times. The Pidgey also stopped to Wing Attack the air a few times, as if boxing at an unseen opponent.

I pulled Hobbes back, sending out Android in his place. The Magnemite flew out of his Pokeball, spinning its little magnets as menacing as something adorable could. The Pidgey kicked the metal ball, sending it flying back as it lost some HP. However, he wasn't out yet.

"Ice Beam!" I shouted, and Android complied. The Pidgey froze solid, also KO'd.

"Hmph," Blue scowled, throwing out his third and last Pokemon.

A Rattata. Oh, thank god. Something nor-

"FLAMETHROWER!" Blue commanded, and the Rattata somehow complied.

Flames built up in the little rat's mouth, bursting forth in a stream of impossible death at Android. While the Steel typing wouldn't be part of him until Gen 2, it was still damned deadly-ish to him. His HP dipped low and the Magnemite fell unconscious.

HOW.

What kind of loving God, or Arceus, would let this crap happen? I pulled Android back into his Pokeball, sending out the only guy who would have some sort of resistance to it.

"Go, Burnie!" I cried as I threw out my second Pokeball.

The Charizard looked down at the Rattata in front of it. Flames surrounded the pair of Pokemon, and a subsequent flamethrower really didn't do much damage to the fire-based Pokemon. Luckily, his Rattata's defense wasn't fantastic and didn't hold up to a single Mega Punch from Burnie.

With all three of his Pokemon downed, Blue recoiled in surprise. For a second. Then his cocky attitude came over his face once more, "Hey! Take it easy! You won already! Hey, guess what? I went to **BILL** 's and got him to show me his rare **POKEMON**!"

Oh, good. Blue was going to ramble at me about some more plot stuff that I didn't care about for the moment. I simply turned away and began walking, ignoring the rest of his dialogue. Blue didn't seem to care, but I don't think he was set up for much beyond just reading out his script.

However, something was finally dislodged in my swiss-cheese brain. That Rattata shouldn't have known Flamethrower, that was obvious. But Team Rocket was made up of about a _third_ of Rattata and its evolution.

Oh.

Shit.

Well. I guess my romhack might have just screwed this world over royal. I need to fix this. And to do that, I need supplies…

Hobbes and I stood atop the Celedon City Department Store. The reason I'd trudged back to the department store was really simple: cheap refreshment with Water from the vending machine. I'd remembered stocking up on hundreds of these back when I'd played the game in my youth, so it couldn't be too hard to do it here either.

I dropped 200 Pokedollars into the coin slot and chose the Fresh Water. The machine made a loud clunk and… no water came out. Something was there, though, and I grabbed it. Pulling as hard as I can, I found myself flying back several feet as the item finally became unwedged and came out.

…

I just bought a Bicycle.

What.


	3. III: Tackling my First Gym

I sighed softly as I shoved the fifteenth and final bicycle into the storage PC at the Celadon Pokecenter. I had spent all my money at the time, and wound up with not just bikes, but Pokedexes, Safari Balls, and fossils of nearly all types. I'd also received some healing items, but I just plain sold pretty much everything else I came across. While I couldn't sell the bikes thanks to no one on this planet having a million pokedollars, I'd still made enough back to double the funds I'd started with. And I had a few evolution stones as well.

It still didn't explain how the vending machine had become a slot machine from hell, though. I figured that had to have come from randomizing the items as well. I frowned, hoping that didn't become a recurring theme.

Hobbes had been simply laying on my hat and watching everyone while I worked. I was slowly getting used to the idea of Pokemon, but being in a world I distinctly remembered as fictional was still throwing me sometimes. By my reckoning, it had been at least a half day but the sun just plain hadn't set. Or risen. Or moved from the single spot it sat at. At least it was cool weather, though.

Hobbes and I exited the Pokecenter, and the little Sandshrew simply cooed as it rolled onto its back to sun itself. My pack felt lighter, having ditched the bikes into the computer along with a mountain's worth of fossils. My belt was also down a few Pokeballs, as well. Considering Team Rocket's current status as "actual threats to world domination," it just didn't make sense to bring in a Geodude with no offensive power and a Dratini who preferred to sing rather than fight. I had released them before beginning my storage spree, and I figured Gary and Benny would have been much happier on their own adventures rather than going through hell against Team Rocket.

Speaking of Team Rocket… I'm sure someone would be pointing out I don't _need_ to beat them to leave. If Mister Know-It-All is correct, then beating the Elite Four would be all I would need to go home. The problem is… I did this. I chose to randomize the world and open the rom, which resulted in Team Rocket having portable poison flamethrowers as a third of their Pokemon. I don't think I could sleep at night, knowing I'd sentenced a world to rule under Giovani and Team Rocket.

...even if there is some good evidence that they're not THAT evil…

Damn it.

Either way, I'm going to be getting stronger Pokemon. And I'll need all four badges to reach the Elite Four in the first place, so I might as well begin the league challenge. And since I'm still in Celedon City, the fourth gym is as much a place as any to begin.

The Gym for the city was freaking massive. The building itself looked like the sprite from the game for the most part, a tall building with the words "GYM" slapped across the front. Several times. However, it looked like Erika the gym leader had made a few modifications. The rooftop had several large flower-shaped solar panels, and looked in general like a bouquet of shiny flowers. Large windows also let the sun, and I could see some wonderfully landscaped hedges and rose bushes inside. There were a lot of other types of flowers I simply could not identify, but a life of staying inside and avoiding nature as much as possible tends to leave one lacking in some life experiences.

I wasn't the only person outside the gym, either.

As I walked through the forested path leading from Celadon City to the gym, I could easily hear what sounded like some really creepy laughter. Hobbes spun in a circle around my shoulders as we both tried to spot the source of mirth. Luckily, it wasn't that hard to spot the source. A well-trodden path to the right of the gym lead around the back. I peeked my head around the corner and saw an old man lurking there, using one of the really large windows to peek in and spy on anyone inside the gym.

I let out a sigh as the perverted old man giggled over the inhabitants of the gym. Why was this old man even in this game? Oh well. At least he was outside the gym, and not actually doing anything.

The inside of the Celadon Gym was actually really wonderful. It was apparently intended to act as a greenhouse, and the warmer air felt nice against my skin. The air was also rich with a ton of scents I couldn't place, almost all of them floral. There must have been some hidden fans making a breeze throughout the gym, because a small drift of cherry blossom leaves blew past me as I began to move inside. Hobbes and I didn't make it too far into the gym, though, as we were immediately stopped by a pair of admittedly good-looking ladies.

"Oh no, Bridget!" the younger one exclaimed, her orange hair bouncing behind her as she shook her head, "Do you think it's the pervert who keeps creeping on us?"

"I dunno, Kay," the blonde replied, pulling a Pokeball out of her bag, "That stalker doesn't have any Pokemon, much less a cute Sandshrew."

I could hear Hobbes squeaking as he blushed, burying his head in my shoulder. I nodded to Bridged and pulled a Pokeball out myself, "I'm just here for a badge," I said to both, hoping this wouldn't become an anime cliche.

Bridget laughed to her younger counterpart, "Well, well. Looks like we've got our first trainer of the day."

Both Kay and Bridget threw out a pokeball each, and the fading glow of the spawning Pokemon revealed a pair of Bellsprouts. Two at once? Well, this isn't how Red or Blue worked… or the Romhack for that matter. Hell with it, though. This should make things easier.

Pulling a second Pokeball off my belt, I tossed both balls out, "Let's go, Burnie! Up and at 'em, Shazam!"

My Charizard and Abra both spawned, their Pokeballs bouncing back into my hand. Burnie flexed his wings, snorting flames as he looked down at the pair of grass-based Pokemon before him. Shazam simply floated in what looked like the lotus position, seeming to enjoy his newfound Psychic power.

Immediately, both Bellsprouts rushed at my Pokemon, faster than I had realized they could. I could only get out one command before they were upon my Pokemon, "Burnie! Drill peck!"

Unfortunately, the Bellsprout that was going after Shazam struck first. The Bellspout's mouth opened wide, revealing sharpened teeth hiding inside its fake flower of a head. Hyper Fang! Before Shazam could even try to dodge, the plant had latched onto his arm, and bitten down hard. I recalled the fainting Abra before it could hit the floor, but that left Burnie in a two-on-one battle.

Luckily, Burnie wasn't without his own strengths. Sure, drill peck wasn't a fire move, but it _was_ a flying move. A whirling mass of energy gathered around the Charizard's snout, and Burnie began bashing his face against the small Bellsprout's incoming rolling kick. Luckily, thanks to type advantage, it was super-effective and the second Bellsprout collapsed. This left it a one-on-one, and I was decently confident of my chances now. Not even waiting for my command, Burnie advanced on the first Bellsprout, pecking at the ground like it was a bird going after a worm. It didn't last long.

As the battle ended, Burnie glowed with a power as he leveled up. What felt like a HUD came up over the Charizard as I looked over at him. Ooh! A new move!

…

String shot.

No.

Burnie looked disappointed as the move vanished into the ether, but still pleased with itself.

"Sheesh!" Bridget sighed as she pulled Bellsprout back into its pokeball, shoulders sagging in defeat, "You've got some great Pokemon there, kid." The beauty dropped her Pokeball in her purse and moved past me to leave the gym, "Look me up sometime when you've got some free time, sweetie." She looked down from her slightly taller stature and winked at me as she did.

Bwah?

"Um… sure?" was all I could reply, confused as I pulled Burnie back into his Pokeball. That was… a thing.

Moving past the studden lass and empty space where the beauty once was, I found myself pushing through the branches of a low-hanging weeping willow. Behind the willow was a kneeling woman, who I somehow immediately knew was Erika. She noticed me immediately, opening her eyes and getting up on her feet. Her kimono flowed around her beautifully, its multiple colors contrasting her short, dark hair. I swallowed nervously as she spoke.

"Welcome." she nodded, smiling at me, "I am Erika, the leader of the Celadon Gym." One arm reached inside the opposite sleeve of her kimono and pulled out a Pokeball, "My Pokemon are of the grass type, but few have been able to beat them." Erika looked me up and down briefly, then her smile widened into a smirk, "It's obvious you wish to challenge me… but fair warning: I shall not lose."

With that, Erika threw out her Pokeball, spawning a Bellsprout. Before I realized what was happening, Hobbes lept from my shoulder and struck up a battle stance. The Bellsprout charged forward, leading with a rolling kick. Hobbes jumped over the kick and replied with a mega punch. The punch hit home, and the Bellsprout reeled slightly as it tried to recover. Hobbes followed up with another mega punch, a fiercely cute battle cry coming from him as he did so. The Bellsprout blocked, being driven back a few inches, and tried to follow up with a hyper fang.

But Hobbes wasn't there, instead there was a small hole in the ground.

I felt a little useless as a trainer, frankly, but I'd be lying if I didn't feel some pride build up in my chest as I saw Hobbes rip his way out of the ground and deliver a mega punch as an uppercut. The Bellsprout flew back from the Sandshrew, letting out a cry of its own as it was KO'd.

Erika wasn't perturbed, though. She simply nodded, pulling back her Bellsprout and pulling a second Pokeball from her kimono. "Go!" she said sternly, throwing the Pokeball dramatically, "Tangela!"

"You got this, little buddy," I nodded to Hobbes, who had turned back to look at me to see if I wanted to keep him fighting.

It was a mistake.

"Flamethrower!" Erika shouted, a glint of madness possibly in her eyes as the Tangela's vines and darkness burst with flames and began to spew hot death everywhere.

Hobbes let out a cry of shock and tried digging his way out, but he was still struck with the blast of flame. As the flames began to subside, Hobbes crawled back out of his hole. He was darkened with the flame, but his ground type had prevented lethal damage. He was still out of action, though.

I rushed to the Pokemon's side, shouting out his name in shock. He was still conscious, but could barely move. I pulled off my jacket and wrapped him in it, pulling Hobbes to a comfortable place near a shady tree. I took a potion out of my backpack and applied it to him before turning back to face Erika.

"You care for your Pokemon," Erika's smile never faded as she watched me take care of the Sandshrew, "That's good. I'm glad you're not like those from Team Rocket."

I looked at Erika as I popped another Pokeball off my belt, "It's hard not to. The guy's adorable," I confessed nodding my head back at Hobbes, "We only met a few hours ago, though."

Erika's eyes widened in surprise, "And yet he's already so strong? I must confess I am impressed… but you still have yet to beat me, newcomer."

"Red's my name, miss Erika," I answered back, throwing out my Pokeball, "But I'm not done yet. Android, let's go!"

The little Magnemite floated up to life out of the glow of the Pokeball, letting out an unearthly shriek as its little magnets spun in place. The Tangela looked to be readying another blast of fire, but Android and I knew a move that would stop that cold.

"Ice beam!" I shouted, throwing a pointing finger dramatically, "Freeze that Tangela!"

The vined Pokemon quickly turned into a block of ice, and Erika pulled him back rather than wait for the finishing blow. As the Tangela faded into nothing, an Oddish erupted from the glow, leading off with a mega kick. My Magnemite reeled like a soccer ball, nearly hitting me as it crashed into a tree trunk, embedding itself a few inches into the surface. Android popped out of the divot, dizzily spinning and burping up a few screws from… somewhere.

Android didn't let that massive hit stop him for long, though, and flew back right for the Oddish. The Oddish danced around with fancy footwork, bouncing back and forth, using its own leaves as fists to try and block what looked like a tackle attack. Once it hit point-blank, Android instead stopped dead.

"Ice beam!" I shouted, being repetetive but focusing on the gym's weakness.

Once more, another plant fell before my Pokemon. Erika's shoulders fell as she let out a low sigh and pulled her Oddish back. Erika, to her credit, was actually happy the fight had ended with my victory rather than sad she lost.

She let out a soft laugh, before speaking up, "You are remarkably strong, Red." Putting the last Pokeball back in her kimono's sleeve, Erika walked over to me and held her hand out, "You are remarkably strong and have a great bond with your Pokemon. As I have lost, I must confer to you the Rainbow Badge."

The small badge glittered in my hand, a literal rainbow of colors shared across the petals of a metal flower. I smiled softly, feeling an intense amount of nostalgia as I held my first Kanto Gym Badge.

"This badge will allow **POKEMON** up to **level 50** to obey you," Erika continued, her face looking a little blank as she cited off what the badge allowed me to do in-game, "And it will let your **POKEMON** to use **STRENGTH** outside of battle." She blinked several times as the game script passed and her smile returned, "Also, please take this with you."

 **RED received TM-21!**

 **RED put the TM in the ITEMS.**

"This one is Mega Drain. Half the damage caused by the attack actually comes back to your Pokemon as a healing force."

I thanked Erika profusely and made my way slowly out of the gym while carrying Hobbes. While the battles had been pretty intense at times, I still had won. And if what Erika had told me was accurate, I wouldn't need to worry about over-leveling for quite some time. Go me!

* * *

As she left the gym, Bridget looked about to ensure no one was currently looking. Thankfully, no one was. Taking her chance, Bridget dashed between the nearby bushes on the forrested path and ducked behind them. Letting out a low laugh, the beauty grinned as she grabbed at the roots of her blonde hair and pulled.

Her hair, and entire disguise flew off in traditional anime style. Beneath the unassuming beauty's clothes were a long shock of blue hair tied up in a ponytail that trailed down to her waist. Her clothes were simple, a simple t-shirt and a lopsided dress that was long on one end and short on the other. Of course, she wore leggings... but everything about her clothes was black. Team Rocket black, to be entirely honest. Donning a black hat, Bridget completed her uniform.

Pulling a small communications device from her belt pocket, 'Bridget' cleared her throat and began to speak. "Hey, Harry." her voice was higher pitched than when she was Bridget, but not by much, "Shian here. There's a new guy who just challenged Erika for his first badge. He's rough around the edges, but he looks to have a knack for finding Pokemon… and some decent battle strategies. Put in a word to the boss for me, ok?"

"Eeh, sure," the radio crackled as the thug a town away replied, "But the boss himself is actually in town right now. He's at the Game Corner."

Shian's eyes sparkled as she heard the news, "Most excellent... "

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **So. It does look like I got some reviews, which is really nice. However, I couldn't help but notice that the _content_ of those reviews may leave something to be desired.**

 **St Elmo's Fire, I do actually appreciate the feedback. This totally did begin its life as an archive of notes on a rather silly Romhack I found online. As I'm playing it on a 3DS, it's rather hard to archive in a way that would allow for screencaps or a normal Let's Play format. However, I thought that turning it into a fanfic would be a clever way to share my experiences while trying to make it something more than just a bland text recap.  
You _are_ right that I do need to flesh the story out more, though, to make it feel like an actual story. I already had some ideas ahead of time, prior to your review. However, I've decided to fast-forward a few of those ahead with appropriate breaks from first person when I shift away from Red. I appreciate the feedback, actually, as it has helped me push forward and try to make this more of a story faster.**

 **As for the other two signed reviews, from Second Legion Scout and Guardianofthefun? What is the harm in someone sharing a review that tries to provide proper feedback? Especially when you try to pick apart his feedback with nitpicks and opinions of your own... that have actually nothing to do with my story? Leave the arguments to the private messenger. I actually received a lengthy message from Hybrid of Fate "warning me" about people who go around and "troll" others into changing their stories.  
Now I see it was little more than complaining that people were providing competent feedback about how to improve, albeit often shared in a blunt or harsh way.**

 **If you, or anyone at all, insist on carrying on some sort of nitpicky argument with anyone's chosen review format, I will _BAN_ you from further reviews for my fanfics. And if these arguments persist as Anonymous instead, those will also go.**

 **I will not have my review count artificially inflated by people getting into a snark fight with someone else over opinions.**

 **I'm 33 years old. I've written stories on and off since 2001, some of them in less than stellar quality.**

 **I can handle myself and criticism. Get over it.**


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